Wanted: Dead and Alive

Finding life in Jesus through death to sin.

Hanging on the wall in the police station is a large poster with the picture of a known criminal. Underneath the picture are the words, "Wanted, Dead or Alive." Clearly, the authorities wanted this man off the street—however that happened. And for that to happen, there are only two options, and they are mutually exclusive. After all, you can't be both dead and alive at the same time!

Speaking spiritually, however, it’s a different story. If you were to imagine your picture on a “wanted” poster in heaven, the caption would read: “Wanted, Dead and Alive.” Jesus, the ultimate authority, wants to see each of us dead to sin and alive to God.

This third vital sign is probably the most challenging to understand. But once we do begin to grasp it, we will come to a new appreciation of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We’ll begin to believe that we can know experientially a kind of freedom that Jesus accomplished legally two thousand years ago.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God. St. Paul used this concept of being both dead and alive to explain the transformation that occurs in believers when they are baptized. “How can we who have died to sin,” he…

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